


Something That Suits Her Better

by vedinamel



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abusive Relationships, F/F, Mind Manipulation, Mindfang needs a bath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2495648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vedinamel/pseuds/vedinamel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After noticing that Dolorosa had finally started to develop some form of fondness for her, Mindfang takes time to look for a present for her beloved slave. The task, however, proves to be more troublesome than she had anticipated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something That Suits Her Better

**Author's Note:**

> Taken place in an AU where Mindfang saved Dolorosa from being assassinated by Dualscar.

 The city guards had greatly decreased in number during the short time she had been on land. Mindfang pulled her sword out of the chest of the latest guard who thought it they could sneak up on her to stab her from behind. Back when she was a common thug she loved to look at the mesmerized faces of the people witnessing her avoiding a dagger at the last possible second and cut the throats of her would be assassins , now she truly wished her adversaries would come up with something new.

 Screams came from all directions as her underlings burned hives, killed and stole without a second thought, giving in to their natural impulses and becoming the violent mindless beasts that she needed. She could feel the fear and despair in the air; at a few moments she felt as if she could even touch it. She could sense little spots of anger and diligence here and there, most likely the few guards that remained, but they were extinguishing fast.

 As she oversaw the progress of her operation with her emphatic gifts she could sense a particular kind of fear, a kind of fear that she had become quite familiar with, which followed her all the way into the city. She looked back at her ships ashore and focused on her main vessel. Her vision eightfold allowed her to see her darling slave on the deck of the ship, gazing at the burning city.

 Fear emanated from her beloved pet and Mindfang could sense it no matter the distance. Fear of her. However this time there was something different, something more. Mindfang allowed a smile to form on her lips as she felt that new form fear.  The fear her adored slave felt for her was strong and almost made it seem undetectable, but Mindfang felt it and allowed herself a moment to relinquish in it. Fear _for_ her. Something within the slave feared for Mindfang’s safety, and wished for her return.

 She knew it was just a matter of time until the slave would become fond of her. All those weeks of subtle and not so subtle manipulation was starting to pay off. Mindfang had felt other trolls desiring her company before, but none had been as beneficial for her ego as the slave’s slowly growing affection. Saving her from being murdered by her late kismesis doubtlessly helped as well. She decided that it was a good time for a little pampering. Why, worrying for her master and future matesprit, she deserved a present.

 Mindfang entered the mind of the new guard that was trying to sneak up on her and ordered him to stab himself. She spotted a particularly fancy looking hive and made her way to it as she released the guard’s mind, leaving him to a painful and slow death as he bleed from the (not entirely) self-inflicted wounds.

  The city had a suffocating appearance to it. The hives were built way to close to one another, with statues of trolls of relative historical importance adorning the entrances of each hive. Cerulean bloods gave great importance to their Ancestors, but the one who built this city were particularly obsessed with the concept. Each hive Mindfang entered was filed with various forms of representations of long dead trolls, each painting and statue telling a story of some great accomplishment each had performed. Though she would never admit it, Mindfang found the constant stare of the hundreds of paintings and statues in each hive unsettling.

 She went from one hive to another, kicking down doors, killing the residents and occasional lususes and making a mess in the respite blocks, throwing pieces of clothing around, looking for a dress that would fit her cherished pet. During her incursions through the slave’s mind, Mindfang learned that she was very fond of aesthetic maintenance. In the memories of her youth the slave had produced double the amount of clothing Mindfang had worn her entire life, and owned various kinds of makeup with colors that the pirate didn't even know existed.

 The slave had a very refined taste in clothing despite being a mindblood, so if Mindfang were to reward her with a dress then it had to be a good one. Besides, she _should_ look presentable since she was being groomed for matespriteship.

 Mindfang infiltrated the chaotic mass that was the minds of her crew and ordered them to stop with the fires. She still hadn't found a present for her pet yet and the destruction of hives was leaving her with less and less places to search for it.

 She kicked the severed head of a cerulean blood through a window out of frustration. 30 hives and she still hadn’t found a dress that would both fit the slave and make her look scandalously gracious. She stopped for a moment and thought of what she was doing. Out looking for an elegant dress for a slave? Suddenly she saw how ridiculous that sounded, but as she monitored the raid of the city through her powers she felt it again: fear of her, fear for her. She needed to find a dress.

  As she felt the feelings of the target of her affections from afar she noticed something else. Something was wrong. The rage, the mindless violence, the self indulgence of her crew was diminishing. It was diminishing fast. At first she thought her underlings were becoming tired or satisfied, but none of those feelings were present, their animalistic desires were simply extinguishing without leaving anything in their place.

 No, the crews feelings were being replaced by something else, but it vanished just as quickly. It required some focus on Mindfang's part to distinguish the feelings of the crew from the feelings of their victims. It was pain. Someone was slaughtering her underlings.

 The ground was shaking a little under her feet at short intervals. Those were steps, of something very big. The moonlight disappeared around her, being blocked by the hive that was bending in her direction. Had she bothered to gaze into her oracle earlier she wouldn't have worn those high heeled boots, they were not made for running from falling hives.

 Mindfang smiled as she got up, having tossed herself as far as she could to avoid the falling hive. One more meter and it would have squashed her. Luck was on her side once again, unlike it was with her lusus, who was squashed by _her_ hive when it refused to let her answer the calling of the sea. It’s attempt to devour Mindfang out of anger lead to the construction to fall on top of her. Mindfang thought that if she hadn't avoided this hive at least her death would have been somewhat poetic.

 Looking at the space that the hive used to occupy, Mindfang found a ridiculous looking bird staring back at her. The 45 feet tall goose lusus kept her eyes on her for a while then took a look around. After asserting that Mindfang was the only threat in that area, Mothergoose opened its bill and tried to peek the pirate.

 Those boots were not made for running like that. Strong tremors spread through the ground as Moothergoose kept missing Mindfang by just a little bit and Mindfang feared she would lose her balance each time the ground shook, or twist her ankle thanks to the boots.  She tried reaching t he lusus’ mind to no avail; the minds of beasts were beyond her power. Mothergoose stopped its pursuit as Mindfang proved to be rather tricky to capture and spread it’s wings, damaging the nearby hives as the strong wings made contact with the structures. A little bit of extra force and the hives feel, giving enough room for Mothergoose to flap it’s wings once.

 The strong wind gave Mindfang a sensation of weightlessness as it lifted her from the ground, propelling her forward until she hit the hive that was in her way. The pirate fell on her back, tasting blood in her mouth and finding it difficult to breathe as her nose had now become an exit point for her blood. She felt dizzy, but could assert that aside from her nose nothing else was broken, but she did feel unbelievably sore.

 As she tried to get up the ground started shaking again as Mothergoose ran towards her prey, reaching her when she had barely gotten back on her feet. Mindfang wasn’t fast enough and the relentless bird finally caught the law braking troll. It would had returned to it’s protégée immediately had it not found difficulty in closing it’s bill. This had never happened before, panic and frustration propelled the bird to run amok, bumping into hives as it ran around, having problem eating it’s food.

The mouth of the lusus smelled awful and it moved it’s head around as it panicked. As Mindfang held the bird’s bill open from inside, it tried to pull her in with it’s tongue. The pirate quickly drew her blade and took a swing at the lusus’ tongue, which slided from between her legs and feel from the bird’s bill. Blood gushed at her and she found it hard to keep the bird’s mandible from closing by holding the top part of it’s bill with just one arm.

 “You want to swallow me that bad, huh?” She said after spiting the giant bird’s blood out of her mouth, “choke on this!”

 Mothergoose had a very brief moment of satisfaction as Mindfang released it’s bill, allowing it to finally close it and swallow the criminal, but panic overcame it soon after as Mindfang’s blade sprout out from the side of it’s neck. Mindfang didn’t have much room to move and the only thing keeping her from going down the creature’s throat was her blade. She could hear the creature continue to bump on hives as it ran around. It seemed like it took an eternity for the creature to finally fall down, asphyxiation finally finishing it’s job.

 Mindfang was filthy as she crawled out of the lusus’ mouth. This little accident surely wasn’t going on her diary. She scanned the city again, some of her crew at the city still lived, but were badly injured, there were some citizens left also, who weren’t fairing any better. She was going to send an order to the trolls still on the ships to go into the city and pick up anyone alive who might still be useful, but something called her attention.

 Something was heading on her direction, a troll this time. No pain, no fear, no anger. Something annoying: diligence, self-righteousness, control. A legislacerator. Mindfang took a look at herself, covered in blood and gooey fluids from the lusus’ throat. She spat on the dead creature’s head. Making her look horrendous right before a real challenge showed up, she really grew to hate that bird. She thought of ordering her crew to slice it into eatable pieces to roast it once her business was over.

 Her horns came from the sides of her head, parallel to her shoulders and bending forward at the tips, her short hair was combed back and, to Mindfang’s delight, she wasn’t wearing a legislacerator uniform. It was a teal close-fitting full-length dress, held by a bodice and with a waistline that sat on the hips. Mindfang’s vision caught floral patterns  in the bodice, good, her pet was fond of flowers. The legislacerator seemed to be of the same height and body type as her precious slave. Perfect! For a moment there she thought her luck had began to fault her.

 “My oh my, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” began the pirate.

“Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, I presume,” the legislacerator’s eyes covered Mindfang from top to bottom. “Not quite what I expected. This night has been an exercise in disappointment,” the legislacerator raised her arms forward, pointing her pistols at the criminal.

 Mindfang jumped for cover behind the rubble of the fallen hives as the lawbringer pulled the triggers. She tried reaching her mind, not being surprised when finding resistance.  The hellish training legislacerators go through tends to erect some form of mental barrier in the heads of those who survive. Not intentionally, a happy accident that happened to confound trolls with gifts such as Mindfang’s. But this wasn’t the first enforcer she had met, and she knew that there were no perfect defenses, there were always cracks on the walls that protected the minds of legislacerators.

 “I get a night off for the first time in six sweeps,” the legislacerator walked forward, her guns pointed at Mindfangs hiding spot. “And get invited to a party.”

 Mindfang looked at her blade and put it down on the ground. She couldn’t use it, it might ruin the dress. She had to find a clean way to dispose of the legislacerator. She smiled as she reflected about the irony of how much her slave was making her work. “Well, good for you, my darling. Certainly someone as dedicated as you truly deserved a chance to partake in the delights of highblood life.”

 “I did! I really did!” When she got to Mindfang’s hiding spot she wasn’t there anymore, there were only her cutlass abandoned on the ground and a trail of footprints in the dust and drops of goose blood, leading to further into the district Mothergoose had destroyed. “Have you any idea of how ungrateful this profession is?”

 “Oh, believe me darling, I know,” Mindfang scratched at the mental barrier of the legislacerator, but was having some difficulty in finding an opening. She could sense where the lawbringer was but couldn’t hear her thoughts, orders and suggestions bounced off, but there had to be a way. “I’ve stumbled on some of your colleagues before. Delightful company, some of the most melodic screams I’ve ever heard.”

 “This was going to be a night to remember,” she carefully followed Mindfang’s trail, the ruins of the hives provided many places to hide, the pirate could try to get the jump on her at any moment. “But what do I find when I get here? Destruction, chaos, death…” with her pistols pointed at the most likely hiding places she examined the horns of the bodies on the floor, Mindfang could also be hiding in plain sight, posing as a corpse.

 “To be honest with you, my darling, I wasn’t having much fun either. You see, I was having the hardest time looking for something specific,” as she pressed on the protection of the legislacerator’s mind she suddenly had a glimpse of something. A crack in her defenses. It was something small, but gave Mindfang what she needed: a memory, a cerulean blood, a hive, a moirail. “But it was just some material good. You came here for something more, didn’t you? You came for someone.”

  The legislacerator’s face had been the very picture of stoicism until then. Now there was a slight frown, her eyes had narrowed a little. Her discipline was beginning to falter. “My moirail lived here. Now they are dead, my lusus is dead…”

 Mindfang could feel the barrier ripping. Lack of discipline, abandon of control, overwhelming feelings, those were things that gave her an opening into the minds of the prepared. “Guess you’re all alone now then. Aww, fret not my sweet, I am here for you.” Mindfang moved from shadow to shadow, her coat and boots tossed somewhere, it was hard to be stealthy with them. Footprints and blood leading back and forth, passing by the same places many times, making the legislacerator walk in circles as she tried to follow the trail. “I’ll take good care of you, my dutiful darling, all I ask is for you open up to me.”

 “I don’t know. A murderer like you, I don’t think you’d make a good therapislicer.” There was no answer after that. The legislacerator kept following the trail until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, shot and missed. Mindfang ran towards one of the few hives that hadn’t been completely destroyed by the law enforcer’s lusus or her underlings. The legislacerator followed, reloading her pistols on the way.

 The furniture were thrown around, most of it broken. Statues had been destroyed and some paintings vandalized. There was no more prints or blood, instead the law enforcer followed the noises. At first the assumed Mindfang was being sloppy, but by the frequency of which she gave away her location it was painfully obvious she was leading the legislacerator into a trap. She followed anyway, after all she was perfectly capable of handling one troll by herself.

 She followed the noises to a respite block. There was a body on the floor, but a quick look at the horns showed it was not the pirate. She examined the shape of the horns again and approached the body. Teal tears ran down the legislacerator’s cheeks as she gazed upon the corpse on the floor, the corpse of her moirail.

 “As you can see, I am not without kindness,” said Mindfang behind her.

“You wretched-" the legislacerator turned around, guns pointed squarely at the pirate.

 “I’ll allow you to share a tomb with your moirail. Romantic, isn't it?” There weren't many people left in the city, but there were enough. Every other living troll was terribly wounded, some nearing death. Mindfang was careful to not allow the agony affect her, her gift was a two-edged weapon after all. She had gathered all the pain and suffering she could detect, and shot it into the mind of the legislacerator, through the opening created by the shock of finding her dead moirail.

 Mindfang didn’t find her screams melodic in the least. The pistols feel from her hands and her eyes rolled back as she was invaded by the suffering of dozens. The agony off all those who approached death was now hers . Blood flowed out of her nostrils and ears as Mindfang overloaded her brain with the demise of others, and the legislacerator feel beside her moirail.

  “What an adorable pair, truly made for each other. Now, I believe you won’t need that dress anymore.”

 As Mindfang made her way to her private quarters she noticed something missing, there was no more fear for her in the air anymore. Now that she was safe and sound back on her ship and her crew gathered the loot and the useful wounded her slave was at ease (or as at ease as she could be) and her fear of her mistress now covered whatever form of fondness that allowed her to worry about her owner.

 One of her underlings walked into her quarters with her, carrying the dress  as Mindfang didn’t want Mothergoose’s fluids ruining it. Her slave bowed as she entered, and then gasped as she laid eyes at the deplorable state of her mistress.

 “Mistress Mindfang…you look…I-I’ll prepare a bath.”

 Mindfang smiled, she found adorable how her pet had come to try and be useful after she saved her life. “Read my mind, my darling. However, before that I have a present for you.” With a gesture of her hand she drew the slave’s attention to the dress her underling was carrying. The pirate was quite pleased with herself. The pet found it lovely, the most beautiful and desirable form of clothing she had ever laid her eyes upon, and…and she didn’t want it.

 “Is something wrong, darling?” Asked Mindfang, with some discontent perceptible in her voice.

_Accept it_

“No, nothing is wrong, mistress. It is a lovely garment. I am…greateful.”

_Accept it. Accept it. Accept it._

“Wouldn’t you like to try it on?” Mindfang asked.

_Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it._

 “I…I’ll prepare your bath…” the slave walked past Mindfang, but came to a sudden halt.

 _Accept it. Accept it. Accept it._ _Accept it. Accept it. Accept it. Accept it._ _Accept it!!!!!!!!_

The slave turned around, took the dress from the underling and admired it. “It is…beautiful…Mistress Mindfang.”  Her voice was monotome, her movements somewhat mechanic as she walked towards the bed, placing the dress on top of it. “I’ll…put it on now.”

 Mindfang quickly kicked the underling out of her quarters as the slave began to undress.

 As she scrubbed her back Mindfang noticed something coming from the outside the bathroom. Her beloved pet was a fountain of negative feelings, so anything coming from her that didn’t fit that category was something worth investigating. She liked the dress, but didn’t like wearing it. It brought out a feeling in her both pleasurable and painful. It took a moment for Mindfang to recognize it, for it wasn’t something she felt often. Nostalgia.

 Dolorosa contemplated herself in the mirror, she did not liked to be vain, but she loved how her black and jade dress looked on her, with the transparent veil coming from the shoulders. Her little moment of self appreciation was interrupted as a young troll sitting at the table looked at his plate and complained about having crabdad soup again for the third time that night.

 “We need to make do with what we have. Come on now, eat your supper. I used fresh carrots this time.”

 The little mutant under her care took a sip of the soup and his eyes widened, there were no more complains as he ate his meal. Sometimes using fresh ingredients makes all the difference.

 Dolorosa had pulled a chair, eager to find out herself what crabdad soup made with fresh carrots actually tasted like, though she jumped from her seat as soon as she touched it as the wall behind the small mutant she was raising began to darken. Hard cold stone became ash and crumbled as the claw of a huge scorpion with a cobalt exoskeleton smashed it.

 She ordered the little troll to run, but he did not move, he kept eating his soup as if nothing was happening. The sting of the scorpion hit him quirkier than her eyes could follow. The creature’s tail went right though the young one’s chest, and his body turned to ashes. Dolorosa could only scream in terror as she watched her little one die ( _again?_ ) before her eyes.

 The scorpion caught her with one of its massive claws and pulled her out of the hive. The moons in the sky shattered and the stars extinguished one by one as the scorpion carried her away, the city she had taken shelter in and its inhabitants falling apart as all matter turned to ash where the scorpion passed. A few feet ahead of them a spiraling vortex opened in mid air, sucking the ashes of the place Dolorosa had once called home.

 She punched the cobalt creature’s claw, she ordered it to release her and made empty threats, but the scorpion only marched forward in the direction of the vortex. As the world dissolved around them, the creature launched Dolorosa into the vortex. The jade blooded troll flailed helplessly in the air as she was dragged by the relentless force of the ( _cobalt?)_ winds. At the center, becoming bigger as Dolorosa got closer, an immense troll with eight eyes and eight arms awaited for her, opening her mouth to swallow Dolorosa whole.

 The slave fell onto the wooden floor of Mindfang’s private quarters, tears running down her cheeks and breathing deeply as she looked at her surroundings with confusion.

  _Come to me._

The slave wiped her tears and gazed at herself in the mirror. The dress was lovely. Something she would have worn in the past. She could actually see herself making a dress like this for herself, were her life now still the same as it was sweeps ago, before she found that strange colored grub. But the past is the past and in the life she had now she had no reason to wear something like this. Wearing it felt like being the target of a sick joke, a false promise that her life still could turn for the better, that things would be right again.

  _Come to me._

 Things would never be right again.

_Come to me._

 Her life wasn’t hers anymore.

 Mindfang smiled as the slave opened the door and entered the bathroom. As she saw it, this was much better. After all, whatever bizarre life style her beloved pet once lead was long gone now. Why waste time with the past if Mindfang was right there with her in the present? Mindfang whispered into the slave’s mind, making her approach the bathtub, making her lean forward, but not too much, leaving enough space between her and Mindfang for the pirate to lay a hand on the back of her head and pull her closer, their lips meting into a kiss.

 Whatever life the slave had before, Mindfang was sure this one suited her much better.


End file.
